HOUSTON – (June 16, 2016) – Father’s Day can be a painful day of mourning for those who have lost a father or a child. An expert at Baylor College of Medicine offers his advice on dealing with the grief that may come with Father’s Day.

“Father’s Day is typically a time to celebrate all over the country. Unfortunately, for a person who has lost a child or a father, this day can serve as a reminder of their absence. The holiday can trigger painful emotions that may cause emotional distress, depression, anxiety and, in some cases, nervous breakdowns,” said Dr. Asim Shah, assistant professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor.

It is difficult for the holiday to go unnoticed when there are advertisements, commercials, and signs everywhere you go, he added. “It can be a day full of sorrow, loneliness and grief but you should focus on the day because no matter what you do you cannot escape it.”

Shah’s suggestions to cope with the grief include:

Plan ahead for the day – acknowledge your loss and the difficulty this day brings. The worst thing you can do is be unprepared to deal with your emotions.

Donate your time – volunteering your time at a shelter, hospital or church can be a rewarding experience.

Join a support group – there are many support groups that can help you get through the day and provide you with the comfort you need.

Do something in their honor – honor your loved one’s memory by donating to charity, lighting a candle or writing a letter.

Giving can feel better than receiving – If you have someone you look up to as a father make them feel special, take them out to eat or give them a token of appreciation.

Work on getting rid of your guilt – guilt can make it difficult for people to cope. It is common for people to feel like they did not do enough for their loved ones. Start by seek professional help.

Do not ignore your feelings – It is of great importance that you acknowledge your state of mind. The consequences of ignoring your feelings can lead to building up stress and tension resulting in serious consequences over time.

Synthesizing the results of three separate studies, researchers from Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine calculate that 12 million Americans a year, or more than 5 percent of all patients, are misdiagnosed as a result of doctors failing to follow up on “red flags” for cancer and other serious illness.

“We estimate the frequency of diagnostic error to be at least 5% in US outpatient adults, a number that entails a substantial patient safety risk,” writes lead author Hardeep Singh, MD, who holds dual appointments in the Section of Health Services Research at Baylor College of Medicine and at the Houston Veterans Affairs Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety.

“This population-based estimate should provide a foundation for policymakers, healthcare organizations and researchers to strengthen efforts to measure and reduce diagnostic errors.”

The study, published online in BMJ Quality and Safety, The International Journal of Healthcare Improvement, provides only an estimate, based on an extrapolation. Still, it’s an interesting one, particularly when you look at how Hardeep and colleagues came up with it.

And it provides another piece of an already devastating puzzle, coming just months after a study out of Johns Hopkins University found that 160,000 patients a year die or suffer permanent damage as a result of medical error.

Hardeep and team combined data from three previous studies, which they chose because they used similar definitions of what constitutes a medical error. (There is surprising variation in how this term is used.) All three studies involved medical errors that were revealed by a patient’s later diagnosis.

The first study used computer algorithms to detect unusual patterns of return visits after a patient was seen by a primary care doctor. The second study also used electronic algorithms to find lack of follow-up after abnormalities were detected in colorectal cancer screening.

The third study, similar to the second, involved lung cancer cases which did not receive adequate follow-up and treatment after a questionable chest X-ray. “Diagnostic errors were confirmed through chart review and defined as missed opportunities to make a timely or correct diagnosis based on available evidence,” write the authors.